When is the best time to exercise:?

I normally exercise before dinner. But since it's hot here in NE is it ok to exercise before I eat my breakfast. Should I eat something small or drink some juice beforehand. any other suggestions. I try to walk outside.

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

I normally exercise before dinner. But since it's hot here in NE is it ok to exercise before I eat my breakfast. Should I eat something small or drink some juice beforehand. any other suggestions. I try to walk outside.

Hi talbjes59 and welcome,

Before breakfast would probably be the worst time. I used to walk after I ate my lunch and/or after dinner. This awful heat has put most of my outdoor activity on hold. I am on a couple meds that have heat precautions. Wait til just before the sun goes down or later if you can.

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

Anytime is a good time to exercise as long as it's not within 3-4 hours of going to bed at night. Exercise, but not within 4 hours of bedtime As for what to eat or drink, that depends on YOUR glucose levels. Use your meter check your BG before and during exercise to see how your levels are doing and determine from your BG readings if you need to eat or drink anything, of course water is always essential to drink while exercising.

One of the best fat burning methods of exercise is fasted cardio, yes that means doing cardio first thing in the morning before eating anything. BUT, that depends on your BG levels, if they are low to begin with, exercise might make them even lower, you will have to test yourself to see if it works for you.

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

I exercise throughout the day. During the cooler months, I'd walk more outside. But during these hot months, I walk for 40 minutes right after breakfast (before it gets too hot), and then 15 to 20 minutes on my stationary bike after lunch, and then again after dinner. Then in the evening, while watching TV, I'm on the floor doing the resistance rower and dumb-bells.

I just HAVE TO keep moving. I can't do one set of exercise and then nothing the rest of the day.

The potential problem with exercising before breakfast is that in many with diabetes, blood sugar is highest in the morning, the result of early a.m. hormonal changes designed to get you ready for the day. And if that is happening, then blood sugar will often continue to increase until you eat something, maybe more so if you are demanding more energy for exercise. So usually you would want to exercise after breakfast rather than before. However, you may not have high morning numbers, called Dawn Phenomenon in which case that consideration might not apply in your case. As we often say here, the best way to find out is to tet before and after the exercise and see how it affects your blood glucose levels.

Contrary to what Ralph says, some think the best time for exercise is in the evening, so as to bring down the blood glucose jump from the largest meal of the day, and also because exercise then might result in lower morning numbers. Again there is a lot of individual variation, so you would need to see what your meter has to say about these ideas.

Others will tell you the best time is a to exercise a short period after each meal, about the time the meal hits your blood glucose level.

Ultimately a key consideration is what works best for you, the schedule that you are most likely to keep--just as the best exercise for you is the kind that you enjoy the most and are most likely to keep doing. If you figure out the best way and it is impractical or unpleasant and it doesn't happen, then it really isn't the best way for you.

Morris Diagnosed Type 2, with an A1c of 11.4 in 2003; averaging a 5.0 A1c since then with diet, exercise and Glipizide XL + meds for blood pressure and cholesterol. A bit dated, but scroll down on this page if you want to know more ...

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

Given all the heat, perhaps walking at a mall would work. Here in SD, we have several enclosed malls which are popular with walkers because it's safe, flat, air-conditioned and someone else already figured out the mileage . If there isn't a mall-walker program, check with management and maybe you could start one that could be held before the shops open.

Amy, Poster Child for Better Living thru Chemicals

~ The Difficult is the work of the moment; The Impossible just takes a little longer.

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

I normally exercise before dinner. But since it's hot here in NE is it ok to exercise before I eat my breakfast. Should I eat something small or drink some juice beforehand. any other suggestions. I try to walk outside.

G'day and welcome to the forum.

We need more info.

The best way to find out is to use your meter before, during and after exercise as you experiment. Most people who exercise in the morning appear to find it best to have breakfast on rising and exercise after.

In general it is unwise to exercise before breakfast because of the danger of a liver dump. But that does not happen to all people. Your idea of a snack or drink may be OK, but in that case you need to experiment to find the right snack. A juice is likely to be inadequate because it will cause a swift high blood glucose spike and not provide the longer-lasting sustained energy that exercise needs.

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

Welcome to the boards! Anytime is better than no time. I personally hate to exercise in the morning even though I get better results from it (I just hate getting up early!). If you do it before breakfast make sure you test your BG and that will tell you what you need to do. You may or may not need to do anything at all or you may need to drink a small glass of something or eat a small piece of fruit. Someone had a neat chart that was a pretty good cheat sheet based on intensity and length of exercise vs what you need to do to compensate for it so you don't have a low. Will try to find the link or maybe someone will come along and post it.

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

Exercise is good for you. Period. Do it when you can. I often find the my bgl's sometimes increase during and immediately after exercise because the liver is doing it's best to fuel the muscles. But an hour later my bgl's are down because the liver stops dumping and the muscles continue to feed.

About eating something before exercise .... maybe but not alot. Your body has enough glucose to fuel about 2 hours of moderately intensive exercise but many athletes, including myself, will add to the body's stores to avoid crashing durning intense exercise. My friends who take insulin make sure they eat to avoid going low.

The last Tour de Cure I did was a somewhat hilly 32 mile ride through NE Ohio. Beautiful ride. At the end of the ride my bgl was ~200 (ooops ... too high) but an hour later it was ~112 and it trended down to the 70's by night, even after dinner with beer and ice cream. I don't take insulin by the way. My A1c at last test was 5.9.

Re: When is the best time to exercise:?

I normally exercise before dinner. But since it's hot here in NE is it ok to exercise before I eat my breakfast. Should I eat something small or drink some juice beforehand. any other suggestions. I try to walk outside.

I usually exercise after meals, because I think at least a little fuel is important, and the reason I'm exercising in the first place is to metabolize the meal (or snack). I don't know what you have for breakfast, but if the breakfast is light enough, or you can make it portable, perhaps you could take it with you on your walk to have along the way. Or have half before the walk and the other half afterwards. I spread the exercise out -- the major portions of my exercise are indoors where it's cool in summer and warm in winter, and it can be just about anytime, as long as it's between meals, and before the next meal, which gives me a wide window of time to do the exercise. I am so used to the exercise, I often exercise within 3 to 4 MINUTES of going to bed. I actually sleep better if I am exercised, and also if my blood glucose is normalized, and the exercise gets it there. Enjoy your walks, or other exercise, whenever and wherever you can. Whatever works -- it all works. Experiment with different ways and different times. It helps to have a backup plan, if you're looking to self-metabolize.